Tyrannis
by TolerableJarl
Summary: Just a little thing I came up with. A small human vessel is attacked by Batarian pirates leaving very few survivors. Rescued by the Quarian ship 'Kitherne' the survivors from the 'Tyrannis' try to rebuild their lives after the attack. Maybe Romance later.


I really don't know what to say about this… It was kind of an idea that's been floating around for a while I guess. Enjoy. First time I really tried anything like this so you know, a learning experience.  
>Just a kind of side story I envisioned while thinking one day. Hope you guys like it.<p>

_

All eyes were on him… A single shot remained.

_Gotta make this one count…_

He steadied his breathing and eyed his target very carefully.

Missing was not an option.

With one precise movement the wadded up paper in his hand was launched into the air, much to the disappointment of several people in the room it arced perfectly into the garbage can. 

A grin crept across Weyland's face. Some people owed him some money, "All right pay up! I believe that's 100 credits a piece!" He proudly announced.

"You got lucky Wey…" Tyler Yangst sighed as he dug around for his credit chit.

"I don't need luck when I have skill."

"Yeah yeah…"

Weyland Maltive; Captain of the '_Sic Semper Tyranis' _ a small human designed frigate that had become home to its rag tag crew of thirty six.

"So boss," another man piped up as he handed Weyland a credit chit, "Now that yer' done taking our hard earned cash you mind tellin' us where we're headed?"

"Well Steve, I'm glad you asked," Weyland began, referring to the man in front of him, "We got wind of some kind of ship graveyard or some shit like that over in The Shrike Abyssal."

"The Shrike Abyssal?" Tyler asked, somewhat astonished, "Aren't there pirates out there?"

"Well pirates are always a risk in the Terminus systems…" Weyland began, pausing to look over the faces of his crew before continuing, "But last time I checked we made a living off of taking down scum like pirates."

"Dam right we have!" Randal Tynth shouted from the back, "When did you guys pussy up and get scared by a few pirates?"

Weyland and his crew weren't what one would call defenseless.

They had been making a living off of going after pirates and selling any valuable salvage they came across during their travels, during which time they had all become very familiar with combat and were getting quite good at it.

"My thoughts exactly Randal," Weyland continued, "And anyways, if shit hits the fan the _'Tyrannis'_ is one of the fastest ships in space, I'm not worried."

"Yeah but we should still be careful boss; don't want anyone getting killed out here…" Tyler mumbled.

The possibility of death being brought to the surface caused some worried mumbling amongst the crewmen gathered in the Cafeteria. While they made a decent living the money definitely wasn't worth getting killed over.

"Boys if the rumors of this ship graveyard are true we'll be swimming in credits!" Weyland said enthusiastically, trying to get the others on his side, "If we pull this off we can retire and never have to worry about this again! What do you say? Who wants to go out and make some serious cash?"

While some of the crew were still worried an acceptably loud cheer came from the crew in agreement.

"Hey Hot Shot," Weyland said up into the intercom, "Set a course for The Shrike Abyssal, we got work to do."

A deep voice buzzed throughout the room, "Roger that boss, on our way to the Relay. ETA 4 hours." 

"You heard him boys!" Tyler shouted, jumping from his seat, "Suit up! I want you all ready to roll 5 minutes ago!"

At that the crew moved towards the locker room to equip themselves with everything they thought they might need, from armor to weapons to the obviously required salvaging equipment.

No one had much aside from very basic low grade weapons and armor, it was all they could afford but they were happy with it. It got the job done so no one complained.

Weyland stepped into the elevator, a smile on his face as he watched his crew scurry about preparing for the next job. Nothing made him more proud.

. . .

As Weyland stepped out of the elevator a short while late in his Ariake Technologies combat armor into the Shuttle bay he beamed with pride as he saw his crew fully suited up and armed waiting by the shuttles until they arrived at their destination.

_Time for a motivational speech…_ he thought as he approached the shuttles.

"Al right boys listen up!" He boomed, "We're a few hours out but that doesn't mean we aren't going to be ready ahead of time! This mission is going to be a simple salvage and leave mission… But when is anything that easy?"

A light chuckle found its way through the crowd.

"I don't expect too much trouble but we have no idea what could be out there, I want everyone on their guard at all times. Keep open comms and within sight of someone else, you get me?"

The men responded in unison with "We get you sir!"

With that Weyland stepped down from the ammo crate he had started using as a podium and casually approached the shuttle while they waited to arrive at their destination. 

. . .

"Sir we picked up a ship on scanners."

"What kind?"

"Looks like a small human frigate. Probably salvagers."

"Disgusting humans; feeding off the remains of the dead to survive."

"Want us to intercept?"

"Yes. Prepare a boarding party, they couldn't have many aboard who are armed."

"Yes sir."

Vegrash had been making a living as a Pirate in the Terminus systems for years. He was brutal, merciless, and hated humans more than anything. He was your average Batarian.

"I want that ship…" He mumbled to himself as he looked closely over the scan results, "We're running out of space here anyways…" 

. . .

"Sir!" Hot Shot shouted over the intercom, "We got company!"

"Shit." Weyland spat bitterly, "What is it?"

"Looks like pirates, probably Batarian judging by the ship design." Hot Shot replied.

"Batarians? I hate those guys!" Steve growled.

"What do you think they want?" Weyland asked, Hot Shot.

"They're on intercept trajectory, they might try to board." He replied, sounding paniced, "Orders sir?"

"Put me on the horn Hots, I want everyone to hear this." Weyland replied calmly as he formed a plan in his head.

"You're on boss."

Weyland took a deep breath as he prepared to speak to the entire crew, "It seems we've hit a bit of a snag, Batarian pirates are currently on intercept trajectory and they'll probably want to board our ship. Surrender would be pointless because last time I checked they'll just kill us anyways. So do you know what we're going to do?" He paused waiting for people to answer the question mentally, "We're going to fight our hearts out and if we have to die we're killing as many of those disgusting bastards as we can! It'll be a cold day in hell before they take our ship - our _home_ from me!" A roaring cheer could be heard in the cargo bay.

"So I want everyone who can carry a gun to arm themselves! Put up barricades, traps, mines everything you can think of to make their lives hell! You get me?"

A resounding '_We Get you SIR!'_ was heard throughout the ship as the crew began frantically preparing for the inevitable attack. 

. . .

In a nearby system The Migrant Fleet had been mining asteroid fields and scanning planets for useable resources.

One of the ships, the '_Kitherne'_ was farther ahead of the fleet, tasked with scouting out potential resources to be picked up later as the fleet passed it by.

The _Kitherne _had a crew of Eighty Six, regardless of its cramped size the Quarians had managed to fit a significantly larger number of people aboard than the ship was designed to hold.

Of this crew were two squads of Marines, necessary due to the threat of pirates trying to take advantage of the lone ship.

"I hate this job." One of the marines groaned as he leaned against the wall, "Nothing ever happens."

"So you're telling me you _want_ the ship to be attacked by pirates?" Another asked.

"Well… No… But can't we pick up a distress signal or something?" The first marine began, "You know find a ship that lost power or something and rescue them from their terrible fate of drifting through space."

"I suppose that wouldn't be too bad…" The second replied, "But the odds of that are slim to none, hardly anyone comes out here."

Before the first could continue the door to his left opened, drawing his attention as a Quarian woman wearing an indigo environment suit walked into the room.

"Excuse me gentlemen but I need to get by…" She nervously pointed out to the marines standing before her. 

"Oh, of course, sorry ma'am." The Second marine said casually as he moved to the side so as to let her through.

"Thank you…" She replied quietly.

Reylia'Nora Vas Kitherne was very nervous around people with guns, even if they were Quarian Marines.

Reylia walked down the hallway toward her work station, she was to monitor communications and keep an open channel with the fleet at all times just in case something went wrong.

While the job was mostly dull and boring with the occasional report that they had found something and were marking it for retrieval by the fleet later Reylia often found herself searching other various comm channels to see if she found anything interesting. While she never did she always like to check.

_I wonder if we'll find something good…_ Reylia thought as she flipped through the other channels, listening briefly to the static before moving on.

Reylia hadn't been paying much attention when she flipped to the next channel where, for the first time in all her years aboard the _Kitherne_ she found something.

And it wasn't good. 

. . .

"We have another man down!" Steve called over the comms, he and his unit had been holding the flight deck. They wouldn't last much longer.

_Shit._

Weyland and the remaining crew were in the Cafeteria where they had built makeshift fortifications. They weren't much but Weyland had hoped they could hold until they could get off a distress signal.

"We can't hold any longer! We're going to try and fall back to the cafeteria!" Steve shouted over the comms, gunfire and the occasional explosion were heard as he spoke making the crew uneasy.

Weyland could see that the crew was nervous, afraid they wouldn't make it. They were probably right. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and get them out of this alive.

Weyland quickly barked orders to his men, telling them to get into position and prepare to provide covering fire to the men who were coming down from above.

"Tyler!" Weyland shouted turning to his friend, "Get the beacon ready and send out a distress call! If we're lucky someone will find us."

"Yeah like more pirates…" one man groaned

Weyland did not like yelling at his crew but this is the kind of shit he wouldn't stand for.

Weyland grabbed the speaker and pushed him against the wall before speaking, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to get out of shit alive. If you want to keep that pessimistic stick up your ass then how about we give you a gun and you go fight that boarding party?"

The man looked down, a look of shame creeping over his face as he muttered an apology.

"We aren't going to die. Someone is going to find us and we are going to be safe? You get me?"

_"We get you sir!"_

" Damn straight! Now Tyler start broadcasting! I want to hear that call across the board!"

"On it sir!" Tyler replied, saluting before turning quickly to the beacon.

Weyland turned around to the sight of the elevator opening, Steve and four others rushed out carrying two wounded.

Weyland had positioned twelve men up there. Four of his men were now dead.

_Shit…_

"Positions people!" Weyland commanded as Steve and his men placed the wounded in the kitchen where they would be safe.

In the background Weyland heard Tyler repeating a message into the Distress Beacon, desperately hoping someone would hear them.

"_This is the Tyrannis requesting immediate assistance we are under heavy assault and have taken casualties. I repeat this is the Tyrannis requesting immediate assistance as we are under heavy pirate attack, they have boarded. I repeat this is…."_

Weyland drowned Tyler's voice out as he noticed the elevator about to open, assumedly carrying hostile boarders… 

. . .

Reylia was at first caught off guard by the sudden explosion of chatter over the radio.

_"This is the Tyrannis requesting immediate assistance! We are under heavy pirate attack and have taken casualties! They have boarded! I repeat this is the Tyrannis requesting immediate assistance!"_

"Captain Tarro!" Reylia shouted, panic in her voice, "I've picked up a distress signal!"

"What?" The captain replied, clearly not expecting anything like this to happen, "Put it over the intercom."

"Yes captain!"

Reylia pressed a few keys before the message was suddenly echoing about the bridge;

_"This is the Tyrannis! I repeat we are under heavy pirate attack and have taken casualites!"_ This time Reylia could hear shouting and gunfire in the background, _"We need assistance! They have boarded! I repeat we need assistance! This is the Tyrannis requesting immediate assistance!"_ The voice had become frantic as gunfire became louder and louder in the background, _"Oh god, Randal! This is Tyrannis requesting assistance! Weyland! Get down!"_

The message cut off with the sound of an explosion, leaving everyone on the bridge stunned.

Those people needed help.

Captain Tarro was staring forward, hands in front of his face.

"Orders sir?"

Tarro looked around the bridge, sensing the desire to help those who sent out the signal amongst his crew.

"Set course to the center of the signal." Tarro replied confidently.

A cheer came from the bridge crew as they rushed to their stations.

"All right marines you heard the captain! Get ready; looks like we get some action today!" The squad leader shouted to his men who had been sitting lazily in the hall.

"Well what do you know," One marine began as he reached for his weapon, "Looks like something interesting is happening after all."

"Guess so…" A second marine said as he grabbed his weapon and followed the captain down the hallway to the docking bay. 

. . .

Weyland looked on in dismay as the grenade detonated by the distress beacon, killing Tyler and two other crewmen instantly.

All around him his crew was being slaughtered, and it was his entire fault.

_I never should have had them come out here… _ He thought regretfully, _now we all die._

A spray of fire bouncing off the wall behind him cut off his train of thought.

He dove out of cover and unleashed a torrent of fire from his weapon, killing two pirates whose shielding had been whittled down by previous assaults.

Before he could head back into cover he felt the sting of being hit over three places in his chest.

He was hurt but he wasn't going to die.

Not yet.

"Sir!" A nearby crewman shouted frantically, "Only six of us are left!"

Weyland hadn't noticed but upon looking around him he saw the corpses of his crew littered about the room.

And it pissed him off.

Reaching for his belt he grabbed his only remaining grenade, lobbing it squarely into one of the larger groups of enemies before detonating it.

He found himself pleased as they were torn to pieces by the explosion.

_Yeah fuck you._

Suddenly and without warning a gas canister nearby Weyland exploded, burning straight through his armor and wounding him horribly.

He roared with pain as he fell backwards.

After he fell the crew followed quickly.

Without their captain left to lead them they knew it was over. 

. . .

"Here's the plan," Sergeant Sama'Ful began, "The _Kitherne _is going to blast that pirate ship into hell while we take the shuttles into the cargo bay. Scans indicate that anyone left alive is on the second level. We go up the elevator, these guys won't be expecting us so as soon as that door opens take as many of them as you can then head for cover."

" Any questions?" he concluded.

"No sir!" The marines responded.

"Good. Now get ready! Go go go!"

The Quarian marines filed into the shuttles, many of them had never seen combat before and were eager to get going.

_"This is captain Tarro, we are about to fire on the pirate vessel. Launch shuttles and board."_

At that the shuttles launched and darted toward their destination.

The marines found themselves looking out the window at the ship they were to rescue; it was sleek and small, about half the size of the Kitherne but definitely faster and more agile. The words _'Sic Semper Tyrannis'_ Were emblazoned on the side.

"What do you think that means?" One marine questioned aloud.

"How am I supposed to know?" Another replied.

"Maybe we can ask the crew when we save them." A third chimed in.

"Implying any of them are still alive…" Sergeant Sama said, his voice taking a rather dark tone.

"Oh…Right…" The first marine mumbled to himself.

The remainder of the shuttle trip was very un eventful as just moments later they were landing safely in the Cargo bay.

"All right get a move on! Secure the area!" The Sergeant barked.

The marines shuffled out of the shuttles and quickly swept through the cargo bay, it was obvious whoever this was had been prepared to leave themselves before the pirates boarded.

With the Cargo bay secured a team called the elevator.

"Be ready, we don't know if anyone is in there or not…"

As the elevator door opened slowly it revealed three dead Batarians, probably killed in the opening firefight.

"Team one go up!" Sama shouted.

Six Marines rushed into the elevator, moving the dead pirates bodies to the side so they wouldn't have to stand on them.

"Keep to the sides so you don't leave yourselves exposed when the door opens! And as soon as it does take out as many of those bastards as you can!" Sama said before pressing the button to send the elevator up.

"Keelah Se'Lai." He said as the door closed.

"Okay teams two and three with me! We're headed up the stairs!"

The marines filed in behind their leader as he began rushing up the stairs, "Be ready for anything! Check your targets we don't want to kill any friendlies!"

As they reached the top of the stairwell they heard the obvious sounds of gunfire, whether it was from his men or the crew of this ship he didn't know.

"On my mark…" Sama said, raising his hand as he reached the door.

"Go!" he shouted as he opened the door to the crew deck.

His men rushed through, catching the few hostiles nearby by surprise, killing them before they could register the new threat.

"Clear!" A marine shouted as the rest of the men fanned out through the room.

"Team one this is Sama status report!"

"This is team one, enemies neutralized, it looks like they were finishing off the remaining crew. Searching for survivors."

"Roger that."

With the news that the remaining enemies had been killed Sama ordered his men to search the ship, while the chance for survivors was slim he didn't want them to miss anyone.

"Sir!" A voice blurted over the comm channel, "You're going to want to see this!"

Sama rushed into the cafeteria where it seems the majority of the fighting had taken place.

What he saw surprised even him.

_Keelah…_

The bodies of the crew were littered all across the room.

It didn't look like anyone survived.

"Contact the Kitherne, tell them we haven't found any survivors and will be on our way back momentarily."

"Roger that."

Sama wondered the room, looking over the dead for any kind of identification.

He came across a body that looked horribly burned and was bleeding from various wounds on his chest and stomach.

"Poor bosh'tet…" He sighed, reaching down to examine the body when suddenly one of the arms reached for him and grabbed onto him tightly.

The man who grabbed him gasped for air and coughed violently as he tried to speak, "P…Please… Help me…"

Sama was shocked, how this man was still alive after he had received such extensive injuries was amazing.

"Marine! We got a survivor! Get some medigel and anything else we can use from their med bay!"

"Yes sir!"

The man was frantic, breathing heavily and was coughing up blood. He wasn't going to make it.

"D…Don't let me…" The man began, the pain and fear in his voice evident as Sama tried to comfort him, "Don't let me…die…I'm…scared…"

The marine Sama had sent to retrieve medical supplies returned with everything he could find, some medi-gel, morphine, gauze, and a splint.

Applying the Medi-gel first followed by a secure wrap of gauze over his wounds and an injection of morphine to ease his pain Sama tried to put the splint on the man's leg where he needed it most.

"H…Help….Help the others…" The man groaned, "Others…are….alive…?"

Sama was afraid to answer his question.

Before he could answer a marine rushed up to him, "Sir we found three other survivors. We need that medi-gel if they're going to make it."

"Of course, take it, I've done all I can for him. We need to get them aboard the Kitherne."

"We'll make some stretchers out of their cots and carry them to the shuttle sir."

"Good thinking marine, get on it."

Sama grabbed the man's hand and squeezed it to comfort him, "You're going to make it. Just hold on."

A tear streamed down the man's face as he tried to speak but Sama stopped him, "Conserve your energy, we're going to get you out of here."

"Sir, we're ready to go."

"Gather up any personal affects these men may want, family photos, holos, anything that they may find valuable."

"Understood sir."

"I'll see you aboard the Kitherne."

"Aye Aye."

With that Sama headed down to the cargo bay where the shuttles waited to carry his men and the wounded they found aboard back to the Kitherne.

Hopefully, these men could be saved. 

I really don't know what I want to achieve with this but I just kind of felt like putting it down and looking at it. Maybe romance later on if I even decide to keep writing it, I don't find it too great but I'm really critical of myself so maybe second opinions would be good. Criticism is welcome because that's of course the only way I can fix problems and make the story better. If you see any errors (grammatical and spelling etc.) tell me in your review and I'll fix them.


End file.
